Trafalgar D Luffy
by The Dark Crimson Blood
Summary: Luffy was adopted by Gold D. Roger because of a promise after Monkey D. Dragon died, but after certain conflict with that family and as well as unbearable loneliness, Luffy has been 'adopted' by someone else. He's finally happy, but Ace seems content on getting him back.
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel to Saving A Child  
Author:** _The Dark Crimson Blood_  
**Story Title: **_Trafalgar D. Luffy_**  
Chapter Title: Babysitter  
Word Count:**_ 1,487  
_**Disclaimer: **_Don't own it.  
_**Warnings: AU, OOC characters... 10 year gap instead of three...**_  
_

**Summary**: Luffy was adopted by Gold D. Roger because of a promise after Monkey D. Dragon died, but after certain conflict with that family and as well as unbearable loneliness, Luffy has been 'adopted' by someone else. He's finally happy, but Ace seems content on getting him back.

* * *

A rather loud roar of thunder had a child curled up in a ball on his new bed, underneath his new blankets; shaking as if death was approaching him at a quickened pace. He wanted to see Law; but he wasn't sure whether or not he should leave the safety of his bed and bother someone who was most likely studying. He didn't want to disturb the man, so; he remained.

He inched back closer to the wall when another flash of lightning showed itself; small tears formed at the side of his eyes. He really didn't like storms like this; it always reminded him of the times he would spend outside; alone, whenever Mr. Roger, Mrs. Rouge, and Ace would forget about him. And, believe it or not; it was rather often. There had been no one to comfort him during storms before; so why did he suddenly feel the need to have someone around him?

Pulling his pillow closer to his chest, he slid off the bed; and crawled to the furthest corner away from the window; that was being hit by the rain; successfully making loud 'spattering' sounds against the glass. He bit his lip, and tensed when the sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway; just outside the door across from his room. He froze; he didn't say a word and didn't move a muscle.

Perhaps, it was Law?

He wasn't sure, but; he couldn't even scream when the door opened and a dark figure entered the room. The tears finally left his eyes, trailing down his eyelashes, his cheeks, and then hitting whatever was underneath them, shrinking back in complete terror.

"Luffy?" The figure asked, walking over to the bed and moving the blankets around a bit to find the child that was supposed to be underneath them. "L-L-Law?" Luffy replied, teeth chattering; causing him to stutter. "There you are Luffy-ya;" the man said, walking over towards Luffy; who was hidden behind the door. In one swift movement, Law managed to pick Luffy up in his arms and leave the room; "As I recall, Luffy-ya; you don't like storms, right?"

"Y-Yeah" Luffy replied, attempting to burry himself in the comforting protection of Law; the shakes began to subdue the second Law's hands began making comforting circles on his back. "How about you sleep with me tonight?" Luffy nodded enthusiastically; sending the older a blinding smile in reply.

The very second Luffy's head hit the bed and Law brought the blankets overtop him; the thought of how this never happened at Mr. Roger's house before, he had never being comforted during anything, let alone a simple thunderstorm. He knew Law cared for him and was always looking after him now, but these kinds of things still managed to make Luffy happier than ever.

So, Luffy silently thanked Law for being there for him; and wrapped his arms around the man, who, held him just as closely.

Luffy never let go of Law that night.

* * *

Law's alarm never went off that morning, so he couldn't help but be happy when Luffy woke him up instead, the child even managed to pack his school bag and make him one of his favorite sandwiches for lunch later on. His clothing had been laid out on the bed for him and, though it wasn't much; he even found Luffy making oatmeal and eggs for the two for breakfast. It wasn't hard to make; but he didn't like the child doing that without supervision.

Apparently, he had acquired the skills by having to fend for himself while living at Roger's house; it was a good skill to have, but a child his age shouldn't have be doing it alone; there were always risks of him accidentally burning himself or hurting himself in some way. He thanked the child anyway, but warned him to wait for him next time; he didn't like people getting hurt on his watch.

"Bye, Bye; Law! Have a safe trip!" Luffy called out, waving to Law frantically as he got into a black care; "See you, Luffy-ya; he person who will be looking after you will be here in a couple of minutes."  
Luffy nodded, already contempt with the goodbye hug he had given the man; so, he waved until he was gone, out of sight; then he went back inside and closed the door behind him, planning on washing the dishes that had previously been forgotten.

Halfway through, however; the doorbell rang. So, he turned off the water and stepped down from the stepstool before running over to the door, opening it without hesitation. "Hi!" He paused, he knew this person.

"Sabo…?" The child asked, recognizing the person's blond hair and kind smile. "Luffy?" the man replied, leaning down and ruffling the child's hair; "I'll be looking after you until Trafalgar get's back; as well as each day he at scheduled times."

"Okay~ I'll get back to the dishes now" Luffy replied, running off and climbing back up on the steep stool. Sabo seemed surprised; he was doing dishes? That was odd. Frowning, he remembered the odd description of the child Law had given him. He walked into the kitchen; deciding to watch or help the child if he could.

* * *

It wasn't much work; Sabo though, the whole day went perfectly, Luffy was a generally good child; after doing the dishes that morning, he silently watched television or read books until lunch; after Lunch he had taken his nap and had a small snack before going down to the park for a short period of time. It was three in the afternoon now, and Luffy was waiting at the door for Law.

Sabo had never seen such a behaved child before; he didn't act out of term, he didn't complain, he cleaned up after himself, and looked out for others. He was healthy, too; he jumped around, and was full of energy.

His eyes seemed to light up the second the door opened; he ran towards the open door, almost jumping into Law's open arms. "Welcome home Law!" Luffy said happily; burying his face into Law's shirt, "How was your day, Luffy-ya?"

"I had a great time! Sabo's the best!" Sabo laughed at this, ruffling the child's hair before excusing himself for the day; "I'll see you tomorrow, Luffy."

"Seeya Sabo!" Luffy called, waving enthusiastically; the widest smile he could muster on his face

After Sabo left, Luffy was put back down on the floor gently; "Why don't you tell me about your day later, okay?"

"Okay~" Luffy said; he knew Law usually came home with homework, so he decided it would be best that he sit down and be quiet so Law could concentrate on his homework. Though, he figured it would be nice to get Law a glass of water while he studied.

* * *

A teenage boy leaned against the headboard of his bed with his arms crossed; a scowl on his face as he seemingly stared at the wall in front of him. It wasn't until the door opened that he stopped, "Ace?" the intruder asked; causing the other to turn his attention to the person who had just entered the room.

In reply, Ace swung his feet over the bed and stood up; "You're late…" He mumbled,  
"Sorry; Ace, I was looking after a child for a friend" Sabo replied, closing the door behind him and leaning against it; "Was it an easy job?"

"Extremely easy, he was a good kid… Though apparently he's afraid of thunder, is that weird?"  
"I guess, my little brother wasn't afraid of thunder… Luffy wasn't afraid of a lot of things…"  
"Luffy? Did he have dark hair, dark brown eyes and a scar?" Sabo asked, and at the very mention; Ace nodded. "Yeah, that's him; his name was previously Monkey D. Luffy, but now it's Portgas D. Luffy, He's my little brother, why? Do you know him?"  
"That's the kid I'm babysitting!"

* * *

**So, so, so sorry! My computer stopped working and I lost everything TT~TT Had to rewrite everything...**

**Hope you enjoyed...**

**_*Sigh*_**

**_~The Dark Crimson Blood_**


	2. Kinda Like Family

**Sequel to Saving A Child  
Author:** _The Dark Crimson Blood_  
**Story Title: **_Trafalgar D. Luffy_**  
Chapter Title: Kinda Like Family  
Word Count:**_ 1,565  
_**Disclaimer: **_Don't own it.  
_**Warnings: AU, OOC characters... 10 year gap instead of three...  
Summary**: Luffy was adopted by Gold D. Roger because of a promise after Monkey D. Dragon died, Luffy isn't exactly the favorite. He finds this out on his fifth birthday, marking the second year he's lived with his new 'family'. The thing is, it's also the second year Ace and Gol D. Roger have forgotten his birthday

* * *

"You're babysitting Luffy? Seriously?" Ace said, eyes wide; he was already shaking Sabo for answers;

"Yeah; and, he is afraid of thunderstorms; it's odd you don't know that, since he is your little brother. Speaking of which, you never told me you have a brother… Didn't we agree to not keep things from each other?" Sabo asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he pushed the other's arms off of himself.

"Yeah, sorry; it just never crossed my mind to mention him… "

"Yeah, yeah…" Sabo mumbled, dismissing it completely; "So, is he not living here anymore or something?"

"You could say that; things were going perfectly; then this guy showed up and took Luffy after stating a bunch of random things, Trafalgar Law… Pfft, I really hate that guy." Ace said in annoyance; remembering just how smug that bastard had been when entering without permission and forcibly taking Luffy from them after getting the CPS to hand over guardian privileges to Trafalgar.

"Was Luffy happy here? Sabo asked, crossing his arms and returning to his spot, leaning against the door.

"Yes, he was perfectly happy with his place here" Ace wasn't lying, he truly believed everything was okay; that Luffy truly loved living here, he was so far in deceit; that he didn't even notice the hesitation in his voice.

However, Sabo did.

* * *

Law wondered if Luffy liked learning; since he always seemed to pay attention and watch carefully whenever Law explained either a simple math problem to him or tell him what certain words meant. Law had been teaching Luffy multiplication; since Luffy had already known addition. Luffy was a smart child; he'd be starting kindergarten tomorrow and Law was positive everything would go well.

"Done!" He heard Luffy say excitedly, closing a second grade math book and shoving papers into a neat pile, he yawned; standing up and cleaning up the small mess he had made. After putting everything away, he slowly walked into the kitchen and pulled a chair over to a high cabinet; planning on getting a cup so he could get something to drink.

Though he was stopped when he was suddenly picked up off the chair and put onto the floor, a cup was placed gently into his small hands, "Feel free to ask, Luffy; we're family, right?"

"Right!" Luffy said, smiling and accepting the cup happily; "Um," he began

"Do you want me to warm up some milk for you?" Law asked, taking the cup back and proceeding to pour milk into it when Luffy nodded with a slight blush of embarrassment on his face. "Thanks!" Luffy said after Law gave him the cup of warm milk, he hugged the man and quickly drank the milk.

"Going to bed, Luffy?" Luffy nodded, putting the cup in the sink and running off to brush his teeth. Law only smiled, it was nice; to have someone else living with him besides an elder brother who was never home. But Law understood that, he just decided it was nice.

Minutes later; Luffy walked out of the bathroom and hugged Law, "G'Night Law" Law hugged him back and ruffled his hair, "Good night, Luffy"

Luffy ran off into the direction of the spare bedroom, that now had a sign on the door that said 'Luffy' indicating that it was his room; it made Luffy feel as if he belonged there. He was never lonely like he was at the other house; because a house is only a simple building; a home is a place where you're wanted, where you belong.

And the feeling of having somewhere to belong to; is one of the happiest feelings in the world.

* * *

Law was walking into the kindergarten while holding Luffy on his side; luckily, last weekend they had gone shopping for clothing that would fit; so he wouldn't have to keep wearing Law's t-shirts.

"Law… Traffy'll remember to come back, right?" Luffy asked, hesitantly letting go of Law's shirt as the older put him down.

"Of course" He paused, crouching down to Luffy's level; "Don't tell me they've forgotten to come back,"  
He could only frown when Luffy nodded slowly, big eyes seeming as if they would tear up at any given second; "When?" he asked, truly not wanting to know the reply; I mean, who forgets their child at school?

"Preschool, and at the park…"

Law sighed in frustration, he suddenly wanted to go back and strangle all of the members of Ace's family; but he didn't. "I won't forget, Luffy"

"Promise?"

"Promise," Luffy's eyes lit up and he hugged Law, "Bye Law" Luffy said, letting go of the older and running into the class he had been assigned too; Law frowned, standing up and leaving as well; he'd be back after school.

"Luffy, would you mind introducing yourself to the class?" A woman with long green hair asked nicely, as she stood behind the child; "I'm Luffy!" He said bluntly,

"Luffy, you'll be sitting next to Usopp; raise your hand Usopp" The child with the tanned skin threw his hand up in the air and smiled when Luffy sat next to him, "Luffy, huh?" Luffy nodded, "I'm Usopp; the greatest and bravest man in the world!" Luffy's eyes lit up in amazement, "Really?"

"Of course!" He replied with his head raised with a proud aura around him,

"Okay, let's begin; then, shall we?" The teacher asked with a bright smile, and Luffy immediately turned his attention to her, eager to learn something he didn't already know.

* * *

Law was positive he was bouncing; radiating with joy, even. A pure, innocent smile on his face as he ran out of school, eyes lighting up the second he saw who was waiting for him. Law could've sworn the child sped up after that, because the second he saw Luffy; the next, Luffy had already jumped into his arms and hugged him as tight as his small body would allow.

Luffy smiled brightly and grab bed for Law's hand, holding it tightly with both hands as they walked home; not a single word was said between them- not like they needed it anyway.

"I'm hungry" Though that was expected; obviously, the child was always hungry; after all, it was Luffy.

* * *

Luffy was sitting at a mini desk next to Law's, his self-assigned homework laid on the surface; as well as a few pencils and erasers. Moves almost in syncs, Luffy and Law both answered a math problem; writing down the answer before switching to their books to read over the study guide, five minutes later Luffy put his book down and wrote the answer to the last problem; it was eight again, his assigned bedtime.

Luffy yawned and excused himself from the room silently, not wanting to bother Law while he studies; Luffy walked off to bed lazily, he closed the door behind him and went to bed.

Law noticed Luffy leave, a smile stained his face when the child did so; Luffy, was truly amazing. He thought as he turned his page of his study guide; he needed to study for the big test coming up if he wanted to get a good score.

* * *

Luffy woke with a slight yawn, sitting up as he stretched his arms. His eyes darted to the digital alarm clock next to him; three am. Deciding to get a cup of water before heading back to bed, he slid out of his bed and left the room as silently as possible.

On the way to the kitchen he passed by Law's room, he noticed the light was still on. Was he still studying? Frowning, he opened the door further; just enough room for him to fit through. He approached the man, he was sleeping; his head was down on a hard book and he was sleeping in an awkward position. The best he could do without waking the man was put a blanket over his shoulders and a pillow where the book was.

Then, he turned to the desk; where a mess of books and papers everywhere. He knew just how much it annoyed Law to be out of order in the morning. So; because Luffy knew exactly how Law ordered his things, Luffy proceeded to do so.

* * *

Luffy finished less than half an hour later; he sat up and hugged Law, kissing Law's cheek the same way the man had done for him when he had been sleeping or when he had left. He silently turned off the light and proceed to close the door; grabbing a cup of water and heading back to bed.


	3. The Street,

**Notice:My computer absolutely hates me, so the schedule's a mess; just know whatever Saturday I say I'll update things, those things will either be uploaded anytime from that Saturday before the next... If that made any sense... Thanks for reading :)?**

**Author**: _The Dark Crimson Blood_  
**Story Title**: Trafalgar D. Luffy  
**Chapter Title:** The street,  
**Genres:** Angst/Hurt Comfort  
**Main Character(s):** Luffy/Law/Ace  
**Summary: **Luffy was adopted by Gold D. Roger because of a promise after Monkey D. Dragon died, but after certain conflict with that family and as well as unbearable loneliness, Luffy has been 'adopted' by someone else. He's finally happy, but Ace seems content on getting him back.**  
Words**: 1,591

* * *

Waking up with a sigh, Trafalgar Law stretched upwards; he gave a blanket that had fallen off of him when he stretched a questioning look; he didn't remember using that last night. He checked the time, "Six thirty?" he asked himself, surprised; had his alarm clock been turned off?

He sighed again; this just meant it he would have to take less time out of organizing his books… Wonderful, how he was looking forward to that.

Frowning, he turned to look at the promising mess that should have been both surrounding him and piled up on his desk; instead, the books were arranged alphabetically (most of them) and the work was placed in neat piles on the desk according to date and subject.

"I don't remember doing that," he said to himself; then, he thought of Luffy.

"Luffy…"

He bent down to pick up the blanket lingering on the ground and he gingerly threw it onto his bed before starting his day.

After twenty minutes; he had successfully gotten a shower, he was fully dressed in his school uniform, his teeth were brushed, and his school bag was packed. Now, he had to wake Luffy up; he'd have to grab breakfast on his way to school.

Stepping out of his bedroom and into the room directly across from his; he turned on the light with one simple motion and turned to face the bed at the far side of the room. He was surprised to find the bed both cleaned up and Luffy missing from it.

It was disturbing how neat his room was for a child, didn't children usually mess things up? Luffy seemed to purposely keeping everything neat without being asked; perhaps he was doing it to busy himself? Considering how long he had practically been living alone with no one to acknowledge him…

Now that he thought about it; was there a possibility that there was something Luffy wasn't telling him? There could be a few, or a lot of things he wasn't being told; leaving a child alone was never a good idea. Oh the possibilities, the possibilities that Law didn't want to imagine.

Frowning, he turned and left the room; continuing his way downstairs and into the kitchen, and that was when yet another surprise came to him; a childishly simple breakfast that consisted of toast, bread, and tea was placed at his seat, just as it was across from him in a smaller portion.

There was still steam rising from the food, as well as the tea; so Law could only assume it had been freshly made. Now he wouldn't have to worry about grabbing something on the way and leaving Luffy to eat alone, something he was hesitant to do due to his previous situation.

"'Morning Law" Luffy said with a yawn, currently clad in a bright red shirt and blue shorts that reached his knees; as well as a kitchen apron that he seemed to constantly be tripping on was draped carefully over his small shoulders.

"Really, you should have adult supervision when using the oven and other appliances that could easily hurt you." He scolded, but his strict gaze was easily wiped off his face the second Luffy sent him puppy dog eyes as he bit his bottom lip; "Sorry" he said silently, "I'm just used to it."

If the puppy dog eyes and the adorable pout didn't help; then after hearing that one sentence, he felt even worse than before; he felt as if he should have approached this in a different way. "Luffy," he began crouching down; "I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?" Luffy nodded and the lonely frown on Luffy's face disappeared and was replaced with a blinding smile as the child closed the gap between the two and hugged Law as tight as he could before putting the last dish in the dish rack to dry.

"Let's eat?" He asked, and Law nodded; "Let's eat"

Had Luffy been anyone else, he would've downright refused the offer in the cruelest way possible

Had Luffy been anyone else, he would've side stepped the hug and avoided it all together.

Had Luffy been anyone else, he would've torn his hand from the soft grip it was in as he was lead towards the food that had been made for him.

Had Luffy been anyone else, he wouldn't have smiled back.

Around nine hours later; Luffy found himself waiting at the entrance of the preschool Law was supposed to pick him up from, and as much as he trusted the man; he hated to admit it, but he had reasons to believe the man had forgotten him- mostly because of his last situation. Frowning, he turned o the green haired woman who kept reassuring him Law wouldn't forget- despite being around ten minutes late.

Luffy hoped nothing happened to the older.

His worry was proved unneeded as the doors opened and a slightly out of breath Law appeared; standing awkwardly, he was barely able to say "Sorry, Luffy" before the child jumped on him and hugged him tightly before taking Law's hand. "It's okay, you didn't forget" and he smiled.

Before the doors closed behind them, Luffy called out a quick goodbye before allowing Law to lead him home—wait; this wasn't the usual path they took to reach the house. "Where are we going?" Luffy asked, confused.

"We're staying with a friend for a couple of days, okay?" Law asked, finally catching his breath when they reached a small street; something that would have normally been no problem for the older. "Hold onto my hand, we're crossing."

Luffy stared at the street with a feared expression on his face, had Law been anyone else he would stepped back and let go of his hand before running; far, far away. But since in Luffy logic, Law was Law, and so he stayed.

"I… I don't wanna." Law shot him the most confused glance he could muster, "What?"

"I don't wanna" Luffy replied more clearly this time, tightening his grip on Law's hand as he stared fearfully ahead, he hated the street.

"You won't get hurt; you can trust me" Law replied, it was a small street- not even a highway; so why was Luffy so scared?

When Luffy jolted back when a car passed by; Law decided the best way to do this safely was to pick the child up and carry him across; he'd question Luffy later, surely it had something to do with his previous family.

He wasn't as surprised as he thought he would be when he picked the child up and Luffy tightened his grip around Law's waist; it just meant that it was something worse than merely being afraid of cars, or the road, he wondered if it had something to do with getting run over…

Hopefully not,

"Law won't leave?" Luffy asked as Law put a foot out on the street,  
"Not without Luffy," This caused the straw hat wearer to smile shakily and release his hands slightly; but it was still an unbelievably tight grip. Luckily for them, the street was pretty much empty now and they could cross without any problems; and once on the other side, Law had planned on putting Luffy down but now it seemed as if that wasn't going to happen anymore. The child looked absolutely petrified with wide eyes that were focused on the street behind them; his entire body was shaking, and his lip quivering.

"See," Law forced his voice out, "Perfectly safe"

Luffy tensely nodded, burying his face into Law's shoulder and not really paying attention to where they were going for the next thirty minutes.

Though once in front of a rather large house, surrounded by trees…. Were they in a forest? There was only this one house in the middle of the woods, and Luffy had deemed it weird. Where were all the other houses and the cars and the playground he loved and what about his friends? Confused, Luffy finally turned his attention back to Law; "Why are we here?"

"I'll tell you later, if you tell me something"  
Luffy let out a small whine as Law knocked on the door, "Okay…"  
"Then tell me, Luffy-ya; why are you afraid of simply crossing the street?" It came out a little harsher than Law would have liked, but he got a reply nonetheless after a few brief seconds of silence.

"The truck almost hit me, and there was blood everywhere."

The door opened and their conversation was cut short before Law could even begin to reply.


	4. Shanks

**Author**: _The Dark Crimson Blood_  
**Story Title**: Trafalgar D. Luffy  
**Chapter Title:** Shanks  
**Genres:** Family/Hurt Comfort  
**Main Character(s):** Luffy/Law/Ace  
**Summary: **Luffy was adopted by Gold D. Roger because of a promise after Monkey D. Dragon died, but after certain conflict with that family and as well as unbearable loneliness, Luffy has been 'adopted' by someone else. He's finally happy, but Ace seems content on getting him back.**  
Words**: 1,544

* * *

**A few replies:  
Trafalgar-Sev:** Ah yes, Halloween sugar… Because of it I didn't get a wink of sleep the next night. Anyway, that chapter was meant to be a bit rushed; for the cliffy. I'll probably fix it later… Thanks for reviewing J

**Labyrinth-chan**: Why thank you J Thanks for the long review, I love reading them. (Spoiler: He doesn't know how they died yet) See what you can think of when I mention that :D It's truly evil, so be warned. *psychotic laughing* Thanks for the review!

**Ano Crazy Adventurer:** Ah it's nice to see you're enjoying the story so much! Sorry for the incredibly long wait worries, I have even crueler things planned :D I hope you haven't died yet; it's been eleven days, are you okay? XD I hope this satisfies for now, thanks for reviewing!(Especially since I love long reviews)

**Yorutsuki-Lunia:** Omaigod how did you even know all that o-o Are you, psychic or something? My surprises, my cliff's, my everything! TT~TT (jk, you're good at guesses; thanks for reviewing J)

* * *

_The door opened and their conversation was cut short before Law could even begin to reply. _

"Why if it isn't my best buddy Law—" The man paused, taking a glance at Luffy before returning his glance to Law, "You had a kid? Dude, he looks like; five." He asked, vocalizing his question and receiving a heated glare in return; "Sorry, sorry man. Anyways…" He opened the door farther and let the two in, before slamming and locking it as if it were the zombie apocalypse.

"Does _he _know you're here?" Law shook his head, putting Luffy down on the wooden floor and turning his attention away as the child began to slip his shoes off. "No, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Trust me; we _both_ want to keep it that way. When _he_ comes it's my problem too, in more way than one." The man with red hair sighed; and looked down, noticing Luffy looking up at him with big, innocent eyes that seemed to stare into his very soul.

"Uh, he's staring at me; it's creeping me out. Make him stop."

"Luffy, this is Kidd; he feels intimidated by your curiosity and he wishes for you to stop. He gets scared easily, and for that I apologize." Kidd nearly growled at this, now he was wondering just what kind of impression that child had on him now… Running a hand through his hair, "Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable; you'll be here for a while. I'll go make sure we can't be seen from the outside." The man said as he proceeded through the house and began closing every widow that came in sight and then draping dark blinds over them.

"Follow me, Luffy" Luffy complied and ended up following Law up a staircase and into a bedroom on the far end of the hallway; "We'll be borrowing this room for… I believe for a month this time." Law proceeded to close the door behind him before crouching back down in front of Luffy; "So tell me, finish what you were saying before Kidd opened the door."

Luffy nodded slowly in understanding, sinking his knees as he stared Law dead in the eye; "The car almost hit me last year…" He pulled his straw hat further over his eyes, "That's when I met Shanks, he pushed me out of the way… H-He almost lost his arm because of it and he even broke a few ribs; it was m-my fault"

* * *

Flashback

_A five year old Luffy had previously been walking behind Ace, Rouge, and Roger; but had lost sight of them after a couple of minutes when they turned a corner. They were walking too fast for his short legs to follow, and each time he had tried to reach out for their hands; they would get farther and farther away. Now, now he had no idea where they were and no idea where he was. Already, he was beginning to cry; he felt lost. Did they abandon him and leave him there on purpose?_

_Wiping his eyes with the back of his fists, he turned the corner as well and a smile appeared on his face when he saw his 'family' across the street. His tears stopped and began to run; he had never been taught the basics when it came to crossing the street. When he lived with his mother and his father he had been too young for them to teach him anything like that; and besides, they hadn't lived close to any roads for them to worry about._

_Which meant he hadn't been taught how to cross a street; he was never told to look both ways and make sure there were no cars coming. Ace, Rouge, and Roger hadn't taught him that. So the second he reached the street he just kept running; until a truck, a truck he had never seen before came down the road and stood only a few feet away from him, he stood there with a deer in the headlights look on his face. _

_He was shaking, and before he knew it; he was thrown harshly to the side and seconds later, blood seemed to be everywhere; when, in reality it was simply dripping from whatever scrapes he had gained and whatever blood that belonged to the person who had thrown him out of the way. Tears in his eyes once again, he ran up to the person who had been hit by the truck that had now stopped; no longer caring that his 'family' was no longer in sight and he couldn't find them. _

_He inched fell to his knees in front of the man, the man who had hair that matched the blood that was covering his arm and side. Shaking even harder; his heart beat accelerated to the extent where it began to hurt. "Are you okay, mister?!" He asked, and by then the truck driver had gotten out and was currently phoning what Luffy hoped to be an ambulance. _

_"Dahahaha!" The man laughed, despite his condition; "Of course! " The man attempted to sit up only to fall back when an overwhelming pain took over him; yet his face showed no recognition besides the slight wince and clenching of his right fist; he couldn't feel his left one. Let alone his left arm- or his side._

_"Didn't your parents teach you not to run in front of cars? You could have died there!" The man scolded, as if he weren't the one bleeding out right now. _

_"My parents died… No one told me… I'm sorry!" Luffy cried out, tears hitting the man's face even harder now._

_Forcing his body to move even though it shouldn't, the man removed something from his head and placed it on Luffy's; "Keep it, it's yours! It's my treasure; so now it's your treasure, get it?" Luffy nodded; by now, the ambulance had arrived and the medics were carefully tending to the red haired man._

_"The name's Shanks, by the way!" _

_"'M Luffy…" Luffy managed to force out before the man passed out, whether it was forced or not, Luffy wasn't sure; but he was glad the man would be okay. He didn't think he would ever get that image out of his head though; but he's decided, now, Shanks was his hero!_

_Wiping his teary, red eyes once again; he got up and turned away, the ambulance was gone and there was no reason for him to stay. It would probably only take ten minutes of pointless wandering before he found his house; he should be used to this by now, but he wasn't. He wasn't sure whether he was happy because he made a new friend, or sad that his new friend was injured because of him and that his supposed family left him again._

_After a few moments of thought, he decided that he was both happy and sad._

_He hoped he could see Shanks again someday.  
(Flashback End)_

* * *

By now, the hat had completely managed to cover Luffy's face in a sad attempt to hide his cries; the tears still dripped down and Luffy's body was still shaking. Without thinking about it, he brought the younger into a tight hug, stroking the child's back and occasionally running his hands through Luffy's hair.

No wonder he had been so hesitant to cross the street.

A child shouldn't have had to witness such an accident in the first place; and now, realization dawned on him; Luffy could have died if not for Shanks! Law had to be sure to thank the man if he ever ran across him.

He would also have to remind himself to strangle every member of Ace's family for putting Luffy through something so terrifying in the first place.


End file.
